Legislature debates Jindal's school-voucher plan

Thursday

Mar 22, 2012 at 5:04 PM

As the Legislature debates Gov. Bobby Jindal's proposal to expand a New Orleans private-school voucher system statewide, concerns over the constitutionality, accountability and practicality of the program linger.

Matthew AlbrightStaff Writer

As the Legislature debates Gov. Bobby Jindal's proposal to expand a New Orleans private-school voucher system statewide, concerns over the constitutionality, accountability and practicality of the program linger.Jindal's proposal would allow students in households making less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level who attend public schools rated C, D or F to take a voucher of state money to pay for private-school tuition.

IS IT CONSTITUTIONAL?Some question the constitutionality of sending public tax money to private, often religious schools. They argue such a program violates the “establishment clause” of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”This isn't the first time a voucher program has faced such concerns, however. Several states have voucher programs of some form, and a legal precedent already exists that allows public tax money to pay for vouchers for religious schools provided certain qualifications are met.In the 2002 case Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a voucher program in Cleveland, Ohio, constitutional. “The incidental advancement of a religious mission, or the perceived endorsement of a religious message, is reasonably attributable to the individual aid recipients, not the government, whose role ends with the disbursement of benefits,” wrote Chief Justice William Rehnquist, for the majority.In that case, the court established five rules a voucher system must follow to avoid violating the establishment clause:-- It must have a valid secular purpose.-- Aid must go to parents, not to schools.-- It must include a broad group of beneficiaries.-- The program must not select religions.-- There must be adequate non-religious options.Jindal's administration has argued the plan meets all five criteria. Any legal challenge to the program would be required to prove that the vouchers violate one of those five rules.During discussion in the state House of Representatives on Thursday, some legislators said they were worried the proposal might face legal challenges. They went so far as to discuss including a severability amendment, which would allow the rest of the bill to stand even if a single provision is struck down by the court.

SCHOOLS ACCOUNTABLE?A more popular criticism of Gov. Jindal's plan focuses not on the religious aspects of schools that might get voucher money but on how those schools would be held accountable.The state's public schools submit detailed reports including data on everything from test scores to graduation rates; the state assigns each school a performance score based on those criteria then assigns a letter grade based on the performance score.Both Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes' public school systems received “C” grades.Under Jindal's proposal, private schools that accept voucher students would be required to report only performance statistics for voucher students; the school as a whole would not receive a letter grade or report data for non-voucher students.Public-school officials have said that's not fair.“You have to compare apples to apples on this,” said Philip Martin, the Terrebonne Parish schools superintendent. “It only makes sense for parents to have that information available.Local school officials aren't the only ones raising this concern. The Louisiana Budget Project, an independent think tank that researches fiscal issues, gave the plan an “F” for accountability. LBP is one of several government advocacy groups like the Public Affairs Research Council and the Council for a Better Louisiana to raise questions about the plan's accountability measures. “Handing over public resources to private schools with no strings attached is bad public policy,” said Jan Moller, the project's director. “All schools that receive state funding should be subject to the same testing and grading requirements.”Moller said that, for example, a student on vouchers who fails a LEAP test — which fourth- and eighth-graders must pass to advance to the next grade — could possibly advance without the remedial work required by public schools. Each group has recommended different measures to add accountability to the proposal. PAR suggested safeguards to prevent students from advancing without meeting the same requirements as public schools. Moller said LBP would like to see schools that take voucher money graded by the same performance measures as public schools.As the bill that would implement the voucher proposal makes its way through the Legislature, several lawmakers have asked for amendments that would add such accountability measures, so the final bill could include stronger accountability. An amendment passed Thursday, for example, would require the Board of Elementary and Secondary education to set standards that schools must meet to accept voucher money.The Jindal administration has countered that the program requires stronger accountability measures by saying parents, not the government, know which schools are best for their kids. “The whole point of the scholarship program is to give parents choice,” said Kyle Plotkin, the governor's spokesman. Plotkin said organizations like LBP — which he called the “Louisiana Big Government Project” — simply want to add government bureaucracy to the process.“We trust the parents to make the best decisions for their child. The Big Government Project thinks the government can best make those decisions,” he said.

IS THERE ROOM?Perhaps the largest concern about the program, especially among local administrators, is that private schools simply don't have enough room to accept a significant number of voucher students. John Foster, principal of Houma Christian Academy, said his school would likely take some students on vouchers. But he said the school doesn't have enough space to add any huge population.Foster said Living Word Church, the nondenominational congregation that owns the school, is working on a new sanctuary, which could open space for more classes — and more students.“Once that's finished, we might be able to take more students than we can right now,” he said. “But at the moment, space is pretty limited.”Marian Fertitta, the local Catholic schools superintendent, said most diocese schools have room to grow, though several are at or near capacity. Vouchers could quickly fill any empty desks.“That's a distinct possibility that we'll have wait lists,” she said, adding that other Catholic school officials around the state have expressed similar concerns. “If a school runs out of room, there's little else to do.”Some legislators say they'd like to see the proposal's scope shrink to only D or F schools to prevent overcrowding private schools.

Staff Writer Matthew Albright can be reached at 448-7635 or at matthew.albright@dailycomet.com.

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